"They were born in a different Palestine: that of the diaspora in Santiago, Chile. A portable country that their maternal and paternal grandparents carried on their backs on a journey of over 8,000 miles from the then-Christian towns of Bethlehem and Beit Jala to the Santiago neighborhood of Recoleta. The Khamis siblings, Francisca (36) and Andres (32), grew up in the Chilean capital. They are Chileans of Palestinian origin who don't speak Arabic and have eaten more pastel de choclo than maqluba or musakhan."
"Our parents and grandparents had suffered racial discrimination and didn't want to pass on the stigma of being immigrants to us, Francisca explains, so they worked hard to ensure that we grew up as Chileans. But over time, they have come to realize that beneath that thick layer of assimilation, a solid Palestinian identity also survives. Part of that second skin has to do with a century-old soccer team, Club Deportivo Palestino, which plays on lease at the municipal stadium in La Cisterna, south of Santiago."
Two Chilean siblings of Palestinian descent grew up in Santiago after their grandparents migrated from Bethlehem and Beit Jala, carrying a portable sense of Palestine. Their family emphasized assimilation to avoid discrimination, resulting in a Chilean upbringing without Arabic language or traditional dishes. Over time a persistent Palestinian identity emerged, sustained in part by Club Deportivo Palestino, a century-old football team playing at La Cisterna. Palestino has national titles and international competition, and its matches with expatriate-origin clubs create major city derbies. Francisca and Andres documented the club's most fervent supporters, the baisanos, who travel nationwide and transform La Cisterna into an intense atmosphere.
Read at english.elpais.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]